SENEGAL: The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic said that 25 people have been killed in clashes between armed groups amid "rising tension" in parts of the country.
A statement on late Friday said that 15 fighters were killed on Thursday in the communities of Mbriki and Belima on the outskirts of Bambari.
And on Friday, six police and four civilians were killed in an ambush on a main road.
The U.N. statement adds that on Friday afternoon, anti-Balaka forces attacked eight peacekeeping officials as they made their way toward the local airport. The statement said that a seven-year-old child was injured.
The peacekeeping mission urges armed groups to cease the cycle of violence of recent weeks, which it says goes against the aspirations for peace among the majority of the population.
Central African Republic descended into conflict in 2013 when the mostly Muslim Seleka rebels overthrew the Christian president. That ushered in a brutal reign in which the rebels committed atrocities. When the rebel leader left power, a deadly backlash by the Christian anti-Balaka militia against Muslim civilians followed.
The sectarian violence has continued, despite a high-profile visit by Pope Francis last year to appeal for calm.
Earlier this month, fighters with the former Seleka group attacked the northern town of Kaga-Bandoro, with at least 30 killed and 57 wounded in clashes as U.N. peacekeepers confronted them. And in the capital, Bangui, 11 people were killed and 14 injured in violence sparked by the killing of a military official.